November 2021 Report - Geraint Davies MP

GERAINT DAVIES MP

WELSH LABOUR & CO-OPERATIVE MP MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR SWANSEA WEST O Abertawe ac yn gweithio dros Abertawe

IN SWANSEA & PARLIAMENT O Abertawe dros Abertawe

NOV 2021 REPORT Report Inside

GERAINT JOINS CLIMATE JUSTICE DURING COP26

Geraint joined hundreds of activists this month in Swansea to mar during COP26.

Speaking at the Swansea Climate Justice Rally in Castle Sqaure, Geraint Da invest in a green economy with a Swansea Bay Lagoon and future-proof flood risk adaptations.

Speaking at the Swansea Climate Justice Rally in Castle Sqaure, Geraint Davies MP said “We must invest in a green economy with a Swansea Bay Lagoon and future-proof our infrastructure with flood risk adaptations.

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PROJECT FACT Brexit deal has already pushed 16% of small firm If UK doesn’t adopt Single Market standards & workers free mov or £80bn a year will be wiped from UK economy. @Ge

SWANSEA PAYS RESPECT DURING REMEMBRANCE DAY It was an honour to lay my wreath today in St.Mary’s in Swansea for those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust, To the end, to the end, they remain.

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Minister should talk to PCS on DVLA safety following ballot Following the ballot of DVLA workers in Swansea, I wrote to the Minister, Grant Shapps on the need to talk to the PCS Union on workers safety concerns. A full transcript of the letter will be emailed to members.

HUNDREDS MARCH FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE Continued from Page 2 “8,500 cubic metres of ice is melting in Greenland every second as greenhouse gas emissions are now 60 per cent higher than in 1990 as China now produces more emissions than the US and EU combined.

“It’s no use closing our coal fired power station and importing products that burn coal elsewhere. That’s why we need a carbon border tax proposed by the EU. What’s more, each year the world spends six per cent of global GDP paying for fossil fuel subsidies which are destroying the planet. It must stop. We also need legally-binding World Health Organisation air quality standards to improve public health and to reduce climate change.

“It’s all very well the Prime Minister talking about coal, trees and electric cars but his policies are feeding hundreds of new coal-fired power stations abroad whilst burning a third more wood in Drax power stations than we produce.

“Apart from causing climate change, destroying a natural carbon store and damaging public health, importing diseased wood to burn endangers our indigenous trees. We’ve already lost our elm to Dutch elm disease and our ash to ash die-back whilst Plane trees are attacked by fungus.

“Meanwhile, we need more low-carbon public transport, as many can’t afford electric cars, and we should plan to travel. In short, the UK government actions are more of a problem than a solution and we need to impose border carbon taxed, cut fossil fuel subsidies and tackle air pollution instead.

“Finally, I’ve been fighting for Wales to receive its fair £4.6 billion share of HS2 funding so we can invest in an electrified and integrated metro system across South Wales, including light-rail and electric buses across Swansea Bay City Region.”

GERAINT HOSTS SWANSEA SPIKING MEETING Geraint Davies MP this month met with young adults to hear about the increasing cases of spiking of drinks and physical spiking in pubs and clubs.

Emotional testimonies were heard of multiple incidences of spiking locally and alleged failings of authorities to identify the crime and support the individual.

Geraint is campaigning for action against spiking and more support for spiking victims - speaking on the issue in Parliament earlier this month.

ENVIRONMENT ACT FAILS TO PROTECT CITIZENS This month, I spoke in the debate on the Environment Bill saying “I rise briefly to support Lords amendment 3, which would put legally binding World Health Organisation limits of 10 micrograms per cubic metre into law now. The arguments that have been put in place against that—that we might have some other target in October 2022—are fine, but let us have a minimum standard now. Nearly a year is a long time when we have a target to be achieved by 2030 and we can focus rational expectations.

“We know that 64,000 people are dying a year. We know that globally it is 8.7 million. We know we are hosting COP26. We profess to be global Britain. My view is that this measure ticks all the Government’s ambitions and boxes. The Government talk about NHS prevention and limiting the amount of money spent on the NHS. The Royal College of Physicians says that the cost of air pollution is £20 billion a year. The World Health Organisation says it costs £60 billion a year in lost productivity and NHS costs. If we are serious about increasing productivity, we should improve air quality standards. In terms of value, if we saved even £3 billion of the £20 billion—on the lower number—we could invest that in a stream that would generate an investment of about £300 billion in capital for green infra“We have talked about the problem with dementia, which is massively related to air quality, and an incremental increase in PM2.5 can increase mental health hospital admissions by a third. We have heard from the Government about levelling up, but we know that air quality particularly hits the poorest and the most diverse areas. Having a cap of 10 micrograms would make a lot of difference to levelling up.

“We have talked about pathways and how we will get there without getting rid of cars and wood burners. We need to devolve power to local authorities to give them responsibility. Frankly, the situation is that wood burners generate 38% of PM2.5 and 2.5 million people have them. In urban environments, we need to stop selling

them and phase them out. We may have to compensate people. Otherwise, we will never hit those targets and the targets will get away from us.

“We certainly do not want the Government to have an ambition to double the amount of incineration by 2030, which they have. The latest incinerator in north London will generate 700,000 tonnes of carbon a year, as well as ultra-fine particulates that will give rise to leukaemia. We need to get our act together. We have the opportunity. People such as Stephen Holgate are already saying that they want a guiding light of 10 micrograms. We have heard the case of Ella Kissi-Debrah, who died at the age of nine and would be 17 now—that is how long we have been waiting after her death, despite knowing that she died of air pollution. Of course, we also need an office for environmental protection that has teeth, as there is currently in the EU. “In a nutshell, people have the right to clean air and the Government have a duty to deliver on that right. Let us get on with it and do it now.”

GERAINT SUPPORTS CAMPAIGN AGAINST FIRE AND REHIRE The Employment and Trade Union Rights (Dismissal and Re-engagement) Bill was this month heard in the House of Commons and I spoke several times in the debate on the importance of protecting workers and increasing productivity including, “My hon. Friend may know that in Germany workers are much better protected from being fired and that productivity in Germany grew between 2015 to 2020 at twice the level it has in the United Kingdom. Does he therefore agree that, given the option of either firing someone or increasing their training, productivity and technology, Germany chooses to train people and raise productivity and Britain, if we allow this to go on, will choose to sack people and reduce productivity? So it is imperative to increased productivity that this is agreed.”

WALES NEEDS FAIR SHARE OF HS2 FUNDING I secured a Westminster Hall debate this month, to call on the UK Government to give Wales its fair share of HS2 funding stating “Bore da. Good morning. I am here to talk about HS2 and particularly funding for the railways in Wales. We are all aware that tomorrow the Chancellor has his Budget, that next week is COP26 and that the Government have been talking about connecting the Union, levelling up and net zero. When we think about all those together, there is a compelling case that the Chancellor should look to give Wales our fair Barnett consequential, akin to the Scottish one, so that we can tool up, gear up, connect up and help move the UK towards net zero with more rail investment.

“The Welsh Affairs Committee, on which some of us here serve, recently recommended that Wales should receive the same Barnett consequential share as Scotland. Simply put, Scotland gets 91.7%, as a proportion of population, of its share of the total costs of HS2. If Wales got 91.7% of our 5% share of HS2, the region of £4.6 billion. If HS2 ended up costing twice that, we would get something in the region of £9.2 billion. I am sure that we will hear about this from the Minister soon, but we have heard that the projected costs have moved from £38 billion to £100 billion, and now there is talk of costs of £160 billion to £200 billion.

“The Minister hit the nail on the head when he spoke of the structural difference in responsibility between Scotland and Wales. The Scottish Government have got responsibility for heavy investment. If we had that in the Welsh Government, we would have our £5 billion.”

CONTACT ME / CYSYLLTU A MI 32 Walter Road, Swansea, SA1 5NW (01792) 4759432

info@geraintdavies.org.uk @GeraintDaviesMP